Misc

3D printing has suddenly become a hot-topic everywhere, catalysed it seems, by someone printing themselves a working gun.

What opportunities for your business (or for a new business aligned to your outside interests) do the advances in 3D printing present to you? Is it time to reassess your business strategy or diversify with a start-up?

And how beneficial it could be for a good old fashioned and sensible measure like the ‘Balance of Payments’ if we could repatriate at least some of our manufacturing back from China et al

It seems to be a fact of life that most of us are so busy dealing with day-to-day matters that our life and business goals tend to get left on the shelf, perhaps until we get a nasty shock that forces us to reappraise things.

One way to rectify this is simply to write them down and stick them on the wall. But does that work? If it was that easy, we would have just done it surely. Aren’t life goals more like the cliche of eating an elephant – they have to be done one bite at a time. Which brings us back to never truly committing to make it happen – it is all too intimidating; procrastination is the line of least resistance.

But I am not here to talk about life coaching, but some software. Developed by a German to manage his Olympic sailing campaign, (have a look at this amazing, scary footage to see why it takes some effort ) it is a great tool to help record, break down and manage all sorts of goals, whether business, personal, family, spiritual, sport whatever. You can also track progress which becomes immediately visible, delegate tasks and more. Attach data files, audio, video, pdfs, Office, etc too. The online version enables collaboration with associates.

It is even better than powerpoint for presentations sometimes (as the narrative need not be time-linear) and certainly has replaced mind maps in my life.

Whilst I would be very happy if anyone clicks the link below and buys a copy, (its not expensive either) this is more an exhortation to think about personal goals then do something about achieving them. On the way, if you can join the community that shares its templates for success, even better. If you would like my input on growing a business, managing pubs and restaurants or improving your dinghy sailing just shout.

If you want a business to fail, here are some top tips. If you don’t want to fail, avoid these errors:

1. Don’t bother understanding what your business is truly about. There is a legendary story about the MD of Rolex denying all knowledge of the state of the watch business, declaring “Rolex is in the luxury business”

2. Believe your own propaganda.Being in the right place, at the right time, with the right business model, might be a sign of true entrepreneurial genius. But is that as likely as you got [even deservedly] lucky? Even when you have notched up 20 hits and no misses, in different sectors and methodologies, Murphy’s Law can still get you.

3. There is a wise sailing rule: spend a lead to save a lead. Of course, in business,you do not need to reinvest in the business, you can just keep on keeping on, taking the dividends. Not.

6. Be optimistic as to time frames, of course it will come in on time and budget, whilst exceeding specification.

7. Don’t worry about managing cash, finances or understanding how cash flows through your business model. As an example, overtrading is where you go bust through profitable growth, but you spend cash faster funding stock and suppliers than you get the cash in from customers. Faster you grow, quicker you go bust

8. Everyone else is just as honest/ethical as you. I never case to be amazed how mischief can come from the most unlikely characters

9. Recruit only Yes-men, muppets who lack the bravery or intelligence to disagree with you

10. Assume your customers only want what you want to sell them. This was the first lesson I learnt in business, from a Noddy and Big Ears story. Noddy did not like Jelly Beans so would not sell them in his sweet shop until the consultant hero Big Ears pointed out his error.

13. Never think about business risk Business may be about reward in exchange for risk, but the latter is negative thinking so should not be indulged.Besides which, life is so much more fun when nasty surprises keep biting your arse

14. Never bother getting (or better yet, ignore) professional advice on things you know nothing about

15. Ignore succession, you are going to live, fighting fit, forever. And anyway, someone coming after you and making a greater success of it would be disrespectful to your memory

and finally for now…

16. Ignore change. Everything is always the the same. Who needs to adapt and evolve?

Even wondered why all those mis-spelled, laughable spam-fraud emails come from West Africa, and Nigeria in particular. Surely, their very source flags their untrustworthiness.Well yes and no. They are actually being surprisingly clever. They know that most of us will ignore their missives – but in doing so, we, the 99.99% majority, filter ourselves out of their random sample. Whereas anyone who is sufficiently ignorant to take them seriously and respond has by definition self-selected themselves as a gullible victim in waiting.

The scammers could not possibly follow up every response if we all pursued their offer, so their weird logic actually helps them select their mark(s).

This has got me wondering how I can apply this upside-down logic (ethically of course) to benefit my own businesses.

In the statistically unlikely event you were going to opt for a Nokia or other winphone7 device, reconsider, or at least wait a while.

MS have announced these phones will not be upgradable to Winphone 8 when it comes out in the autumn. What is worse, they have been prevaricating on answering this question for months although it is hard to imagine they have not always known the answer.

So, Nokia 600-900 owners, you have been cast adrift, albeit with a small paddle of a compromised new version 7.8 (from 7.5)

Microsoft, I despair of you. Is there anyone left at Redmond who understands the concept of, and need for, customer trust?

I want MS to provide a real choice in this arena. I want to want one above an iPhone. I think Win8 could be really interesting. Am I the only one who wants to slap Steve Balmer before handing him his P45?

I’ve been saying for some time that MS are on a slippery slope, but why to they keep pushing on the ski-poles?